The wild alternatives listed below offer excellent seasonal support for your body and peak nutrition, unlike grocery store fruits which are picked weeks before ripening and lose nutritional value from being shipped thousands of miles from the store. Many people overlook grocery store fruit for wild alternatives when they spend hundreds each year on organic fruit.

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American Persimmons: The Natural Candy That Puts Other Fruits To Shame

These gems have honey pudding like taste, and they have 55% more vitamin C than oranges. They also provide energy with no sugar crash. The trick to eating these gems is waiting until they are soft and wrinkled because unripe persimmons will make your mouth pucker with a mouthful of tannins. In October and November, keep an eye out for football shaped gems hanging from bare branches.

Pawpaws: The Tropical Fruit You Can Grow in Your Backyard

The largest native fruit in the U.S. is almond shaped, green, and has the texture and flavor of banana-mango custard. However, it is much more nutritious as it contains more protein than imported tropical fruits. It is only available for a short time as it ripens in early fall and must be harvested within days of ripening. You can find these fruits in deep, damp woodland areas. They are connected by underground roots which form patches.

Wild Grapes: Free Wine Grapes That Make Better Jelly Than Grapes You Buy At The Store

These wild grapes are packed with antioxidants that beat pricey 'superfruit' supplements. They can be found hanging from trees from August to October (depending on your location). They're great for making jellies and juice because of their high skin-to-flesh ratio and flavor that's unmatched by regular grocery store grapes.

Elderberries: The Immune-Boosting Super Food That is Medicine in a Pill

The clusters that are dark purple and grow on shrubs with compound leaves contain a compound that reduces flu duration by four days. Do not consume raw elderberries as they will cause an upset stomach. Instead, make sure to process them into syrups or jams before consumption. Search for flat clusters on top of shrubs that are 6-10 foot tall near water sources and have tiny berries.

Wild Black Cherries: What You Should Know About These Amazing Heart Health Benefits

These small, dark cherries are the most nutritious and are available at no cost. When compared to tart cherry supplements, they contain anthocyanins that fight inflammation. They are most easily picked from the tall trees in late summer when the cherries are deep purple-black. The bark of these trees has horizontal lines. The leaves are serrated along the edges.

Rose Hips: Nature's Little Vitamin C Bombs That Are Better Than Citrus.

The fruit that develops after roses have bloom has twenty times more vitamin C than an orange. They are red, orange, or purple. They grow on wild rose bushes after the flowers fade. The seeds should be removed as they can be irritating to the digestive tract. The fruits are best harvested after the first frost as that is when the sugars in the fruit become concentrated.

Crabapples: The Underappreciated Apples Ideal For Pectin Preserves

The small apples that grow on decorative and wild trees have a naturally high pectin content which Jam and Jelly makers covet. These apples are too sour to eat raw but give off complex tastes when cooked that are better than typical grocery store apples. When searching for these types of trees, look for small apples with color variations from yellow to dark red.

Wild Strawberries: A Store-Bought Berry's Worst Nightmare

These tiny berries are very sweet! They grow low to the ground on plants with three-part leaves. Wild strawberries ripen throughout the summer with a peak in June and July. Smaller fruits have a more intense wild strawberry flavor due to a higher sugar concentration. One wild strawberry equates to the taste of five strawberries from the supermarket.

Mulberries: An 'American Backyard' Version of a Silk Road Superfruit

These long, berry-like fruits have heart-shaped leaves and grow on trees. They are impressive antioxidants and provide a steady energy source. White, red, and black mulberries have the same nutritional benefits. They ripen in stages over several weeks in early summer, and daily harvesting can produce fresh fruit for more than a month.

Wild Plums: True Fruits of the Stone Family

Prior to commercial breeding, shipping and shelf life took priority over flavor and plums had to taste like these wild varieties. Wild plums have outstanding flavor and come in red, yellow, and cream, and they make excellent jams thanks to their natural pectin. You may find thorny bushes or small trees that produce clusters of small fruits in late summer.

Hawthorn Berries: Heart-Supporting Treasures of Traditional Healers

For centuries, these red berries on thorny shrubs have been used to support heart health. Modern studies show the circulation and heart function benefits of hawthorn. They have large seeds compared to pulpy flesh, making them better suited for tea and tincture preparation than for eating fresh.

Buy Antioxidants Champions: Wild Raspberries and Blackberries

The range of wild berries has unique and concentrated nutrient properties that are impossible to replicate with commercial cultivation. These thorny aggregation cane berries grow in sunny woodland margins and ruined sites. Wild blackberries are more productive than wild raspberries, thus giving more than 3 months of fresh berries with an excellent harvesting opportunity from July to September.

Safety Tip: Always make sure you can positively identify a wild fruit that you want to eat. Always start with small quantities to test your own personal tolerance. Never pick fruit from an area that might be contaminated with pesticides or pollutants. If you need some information, the most reliable sources are your local extension services or foraging guides.